On the first day of the winter month of the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, a preparatory meeting for the group's 20th anniversary conference was held at the Jiangnan Conference Center under the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Jiangnan Group is particularly particular about rules and regulations, and requires that everything be based on evidence and have rules to follow.

According to the group's regulations, a preparatory meeting needs to be held before major meetings. The purpose is to elect the members of the presidium and the secretary-general of the meeting; report the preparations for the meeting to the representatives; discuss the agenda of the meeting; communicate some major decisions and matters in advance, and fully exchange opinions and views, so as to ensure that the formal meeting will be a successful and harmonious meeting.

But when the delegates arrived at the venue, they found that things were not that simple. They saw that the Pearl Square was under martial law, and the guards in charge were not the security guards from the Security Group in gray uniforms, but the guards from the Security Department wearing neat black cloaks and black helmets.

The group privately called these well-equipped inner guards who were over 1.8 meters tall the Great Inner Guards. It was generally estimated that their number was around 200 to 300.

However, today, there are more than 2,000 internal guards inside and outside the venue...

These black-robed guards, wearing long leather boots and black leather gloves, holding shiny Wanli rifles, stood opposite each other on the steps, exerting great pressure on the delegates who entered the venue.

After entering the venue, all the representatives secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Those who knew each other exchanged glances, and they all knew... the big one was coming.

~~

Sure enough, after the two thousand representatives had taken their seats, Zhao Hao and members of the group's board of directors appeared on the podium.

The representatives stood up reflexively, and a second later, they woke up from a dream and started to applaud.

Because as the soul of the group, Zhao Hao never attends preparatory meetings. Because as long as he opens his mouth, no one will object, and that would not achieve the purpose of letting everyone fully tear... oh no, express their own opinions.

Considering the recent private actions of the representatives, I am afraid that this preparatory meeting may be more important than the formal conference!

Amidst thunderous applause, Zhao Hao took his seat in the center of the podium, with the eight group board members sitting on his left and right.

On his left sat Jiang Xueying, president of Jiangnan Group.

On the right sat Li Mingyue, chairman of Xishan Group.

To the left of Jiang Xueying is Tang Youde, chairman of the Nanhai Group.

To the right of Li Mingyue is Hua Bozhen, vice chairman of Jiangnan Group.

These four people are also the only four second-level administrative personnel in the group.

As the group's affairs expanded, the board of directors also expanded to nine people.

The other four board members are Chen Huaixiu, chairman of Royal Shipping.

Wang Shimao, Chairman of the Group’s Immigration Affairs Committee.

Wang Dingjue, Chairman of the Group Supervision and Inspection Committee.

The Group’s Board Secretary and Part-time Chairman of the Remuneration Committee is Gu Dashou.

Worthy of mention is Wang Dingjue.

This third disciple of Zhao Hao first worked in the Hanlin Academy after he ranked second in the imperial examination. Later, he followed his teacher's orders and asked to be transferred to other places. He served as the magistrate of Luoding and the prefect of Quanzhou. In the fifth year of Wanli, he was promoted to the deputy envoy of Henan Province.

At this time, his brother almost forced the Prime Minister to death. After the love affair, Wang Xijue returned home in disgrace to practice Taoism.

How could the strong-willed Wang Dingjue fall behind? He also took the initiative to resign and return home, winning praise from the government and the public, saying that he was loyal and righteous, and had a noble character.

But in fact, the real reason why Wang Dingjue resigned was that his father was getting old and tired of working.

Although there is no explicit stipulation, as one of the founders of the group, the Wang family must at least retain a seat on the board of directors.

Of course, Wang Dingjue also saw the general trend clearly, so he resolutely resigned from his official position and became a glorious group cadre.

He was able to become a member of the group leadership team in just nine years, not by using any backdoor or illegal means.

Because there are already many scholars like him who believe that the future belongs to the group and hope to make a career in a brand new world. Although most of them are old students who failed to pass the examination to become a scholar, or even not students...

But as the group grew bigger, it became common for scholars and jinshi to want to join.

Zhao Hao certainly would not reject these scholars, as that would be tantamount to cutting himself off from the gentry class and public opinion. So not only could he not reject them, he had to give them certain preferential treatment.

The “Regulations on the Employment of Officials with Meritorious Service” promulgated by the Group in the first year of the Wanli Period stipulates that after the above-mentioned personnel pass the due diligence review and are approved for employment, they must undergo a one-year transformation training at the Jiangnan Cadre College.

After successful graduation from the transformation class, the group’s organization department will assign grades based on their achievements, official positions, and grades.

In the case of excellent academic performance, students will be designated as senior clerks at the 13th administrative level; Juren will be designated as section chief at the 11th administrative level; and Jinshi will be designated as director at the 9th administrative level.

The rank of Jinshi is equivalent to the seventh rank, and the corresponding administrative level is also increased by one rank for each higher rank. That is, the sixth rank corresponds to the eighth administrative level, the deputy municipal level; the fifth rank corresponds to the seventh administrative level, the municipal level; the fourth rank corresponds to the sixth administrative level; the third rank corresponds to the fifth administrative level, which is the level of Cai Yimu.

There are no regulations above that, as the group's entry age limit is under thirty, although it can be relaxed to under forty for those with meritorious service.

But there are those who can reach the third rank at the age of forty... well, it cannot be said that there are none at all.

For example, Jin Xuezeng was appointed governor at the age of 36 and Right Vice-Censor-in-Chief at the age of 39. However, Gua Boyi was an extreme case and there was no need to make special provisions.

As for those seniors over 40, they just took titles like independent director or consultant after they came in, and just got paid for nothing from the group...

Wang Dingjue was a second-place candidate in the imperial examination and a direct disciple of Zhao Hao. When he resigned at the age of 38, he had just become a deputy envoy of the fourth rank of the Ministry of Education. This was already the highest-ranking official the Organization Department had encountered during its official grading.

The fourth rank corresponds to the sixth administrative level, so in the seventh year of Wanli, he served as the leader of the third overseas inspection group of the Group Inspection and Supervision Committee.

In the tenth year of Wanli, he was promoted to the fifth administrative level and served as a member of the Commission for Inspection and Supervision. He presided over the work of the General Office of the Commission for Inspection and Supervision and assisted Hai Rui in carrying out major reforms of the Commission for Inspection and Supervision.

In the 13th year of Wanli, he was promoted to vice chairman of the Inspection and Supervision Commission, in charge of overseas inspections, administrative level 4.

In the 14th year of Wanli, Zhao Shouye, Chairman of the Inspection and Supervision Committee, retired early due to health reasons. Wang Dingjue was nominated by the Board of Directors and approved by the Group General Meeting to take over as Chairman of the Inspection and Supervision Committee and join the Group Board of Directors.

In addition to these four group directors at the third administrative level, there are fourteen senior executives at the third administrative level in the entire group.

Among them are six senior vice presidents of the group, namely Pan Zhongcang, chairman of Jiangnan Education Group; Lu Yan, head of the group's organization department; Wang Shimei, head of the publicity department; Yang Fan, chairman of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group; Ma Kelong, chairman of Jiangnan Security Group; and Ma Xianglan, director of the group's general office.

As well as Xishan Group President Zhao Xian, Vice Chairman Zhu Shimao, Nanhai Group President Sun Dawu, and Vice Chairman Lin Zhennan.

There are also Liang Qin, CEO of India; Liu Zhengqi, CEO of Middle East; Tang Baolu, CEO of West Africa; and Yu Ben, CEO of East Africa.

In addition, the ranks of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Coast Guard Jin Ke and Deputy Chief Police Commissioner have been promoted to special police inspectors, which is equivalent to the third administrative level.

The above 25 people are the members of the presidium of the group meeting, responsible for performing various duties of the group meeting during the recess, including discussing major issues and matters related to the overall situation; deciding to revoke the qualifications of group representatives; deciding on the appointment, punishment and removal of senior group cadres, etc.

This is the collective leadership structure that Zhao Hao has built for the group over the past twenty years. Although as long as he is there, there will inevitably be a situation where one person has the final say, it is already a leadership model that is enough to kill all political systems in the world in seconds!

~~

After all the representatives were seated, Zhao Hao directly pulled over the microphone that looked like a hand drum.

"There's no need to trouble the Secretary-General for his opening remarks, otherwise everyone will have to applaud again." His voice rang out simultaneously in all parts of the conference hall, clearly reaching the ears of every participant.

The Institute of Taoism and Law had already produced carbon rod microphones and paper cone speakers several years ago. These are at the experimental level of elementary school students in later generations, so there is no need to elaborate on them.

Although the sound amplified by this primitive electroacoustic system was somewhat distorted, the amplification effect was far better than before. The speaker finally did not have to shout at the top of his lungs.

During the intervals between Zhao Hao's speeches, one could hear a pin drop in the room, with only a faint sound of electric current coming from the microphone.

"You all seem surprised to see me." Seeing that no one was laughing at his joke, Zhao Hao continued, "Why do you seem a little guilty?"

The audience began to laugh softly, and it was much softer than before.

"We have been loyal to each other for the past 20 years, and today we must speak frankly and honestly. We cannot follow the bad habits of officials who use words to convey meanings and play dumb." Zhao Hao added:

"That doesn't conform to the efficient and accurate communication we have always pursued. So today I am here to answer your questions and resolve your doubts. No matter what the matter is, let's put it out in the open and make it clear so that everyone can feel at ease."

After a pause, he smiled and said, "So as to avoid being roasted on the fire by you at the conference three days later."

Laughter rang out in the conference hall again, this time it was much more hearty, and many people felt relieved.

The representatives then listened to Zhao Hao continue: "First of all, I completely understand everyone's confusion and anxiety at the moment - I came back from the funeral of Grand Tutor Zhang. My father-in-law and idol passed away, and an era has come to an end. During the fifteen years of his regency, although there have been suppression and restrictions on the group, in general, the development of the group in the past twenty years has been inseparable from his protection, or even connivance!"

"Now that the guardian god who protected us from the wind and rain has passed away, we who have long been accustomed to being fearless will definitely feel uncomfortable. Of course, someone will say, don't we still have your father?" Zhao Hao said with a self-deprecating smile:

"I can only say that there are differences between a prime minister and a prime minister. My father could not become an all-powerful regent. This has nothing to do with his ability. It is because the environment no longer allows such a tragic prime minister to exist in the Ming Dynasty."

"The first person who disagreed was Emperor Wanli. We had already made our judgment before, and now observing his actions over the past few months has confirmed our judgment - he is eager to take back the power that has been lost for many years, and is eager to use or even abuse his power. Currently, the group of people killed by Grand Tutor Zhang have gathered in the court. I believe that a new storm will come soon! A comprehensive liquidation of Grand Tutor Zhang is inevitable!"

ps. It’s gone tonight.